Fruitless olive tree

ABSTRACT

A new and distinct variety of olive tree characterized by its robust growth pattern, thicker leaves, fuller appearance and its inability to produce fruit.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of olivetree.

The plant was discovered by me in 1962 as a chance seedling growing onmy property at Glendora, Calif. The seed parent of the new variety is anunpatented variety of Olea europaea known as "Manzanillo". The"Manzanillo" variety is widely grown in California. However, it producesan abudance of fruit which ripen and drop in large numbers and thisrestricts the use of the "Manzanillo" variety as an ornamental.

The new variety has been asexually reproduced by me on the property ofOlle Olsson Nursery, Inc., at 2154 Peck Rd., Monrovia, Calif. by meansof cuttings. A large number of plants of the new variety have beenreproduced by this method and in all cases the resulting plants haveexhibited the distinguishing characteristics of the parent plant,indicating that the new variety is established.

The new variety as compared with the "Manzanillo" variety ischaracterized by an overall more robust growth pattern, thicker leaves,a fuller appearance and, significantly, a lack of fruit. It also differsfrom another fruitless olive tree, U.S. Plant Pat. No. 3,197 in that thenew variety is a tetraploid.

Other distinctive characteristics of the new variety are exemplified inthe accompanying illustrations.

FIG. 1 shows the entire adult parent tree which grew from the originalseedling.

FIG. 2 shows a young tree.

FIG. 3 shows a typical branch of the adult tree and

FIG. 4 is a close up of the leaves of the tree.

The illustrations closely approximate the colors of the tree, but tofurther facilitate the identification of the important colors referenceis made to the British Horticultural Colour Charts in the description ofthe new variety.

The following is a brief description in some detail of the new variety.

Tree:

Shape.--Tree is upright with wide spreading crown, which is rounded inappearance.

Size.--Tree grows to approximately 7.5 meters in height with a branchspread of about the same as the height.

Growth.--Robust, dense; vigorous branches tend to arch prominently aboveand beyond the tree's general periphery.

Wood, current growth:

Surface texture.--Smooth at first, but with frequent lenticels.

Color.--Leaves silvery scaly underneath and dark green above.

Wood, medium age growth:

Surface texture.--Smooth with prominent lenticels. Lenticels becomeunusually prominent, large and elliptical in shape very rapidly.

Color.--Bark is grayish brown.

Wood, old growth:

Surface texture.--Lenticels become more prominent and very rough.

Color.--Color becomes more brown with age.

Leaves:

Size.--Thicker than the leaves on the "Manzanillo" variety. When mature,leaves usually range from 4.5 centimeters to 5 centimeters long and from1 centimeter to 1.5 centimeters wide.

Shape.--Leaf shape is elliptical and obtuse, base slenderly cuneate.

Color.--Leaf color is dark green, glabrous and shiny above and silveryscaly underneath, both in immature and mature stages.

Petiole.--From 3 millimeters to 6 millimeters long; somewhat smallercaliper than in the "Manzanillo" variety.

Margin.--The margin of the leaf is entire.

Arrangement.--The leaves are opposite on the stem.

Flower:

Size.--Slightly larger than those of the "Manzanillo" variety in bothlength and diameter.

Season.--The season of flowering in the Glendora area is April throughJune.

Color.--The color of the flower is white or off-white.

Pistils.--The pistil is usually non-existent, but when occurring isdeformed and abscises before maturity.

The above described new variety of olive tree has an evergreen foliagewhich is very attractive and has a fuller appearance than that of the"Manzanillo" variety. The fruitless characteristic of this new varietymakes it particularly desirable for use as an ornamental since thiseliminates the problem of the dropping of fruit which, if stepped on,can cause a staining of an adjacent patio or sidewalk.

I claim:
 1. A new and distinct variety of olive tree as described andshown herein, characterized particularly by its more robust growthpattern, its thicker leaves and its fuller appearance, all as comparedwith the Manzanillo variety, and by its lack of fruit.